Dying Wish
by Clairisant2000
Summary: When Mac makes a comment that her dying wish would be to kiss AJ, Chloe takes matters into her own hands to bring the two of them together...and with a series of misadventures and misunderstandings, chaos ensues!
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Dying Wish

AUTHOR: Clairisant

CLASSIFICATION: AJ/Mac

FEEDBACK: Would love to hear both good and bad feedback but please try to be kind and constructive. 

CREDITS: A special thank you to my beta readers Qupeydoll and Unicorn.

Chapter 1

The baseball season that year had been amazing! In actuality, the games had not really been any better than any other year. There hadn't been any records broken, or truthfully any players that had really stood out from the rest. What had made this season so amazing was that retired Admiral AJ Chegwidden had spent it with his daughter.

Over the last several years he and Francesca had gotten reacquainted. The twenty-six years they had spent apart because of AJ's divorce from her mother, had been bridged and father and daughter discovered they enjoyed spending time together. However, until he had retired from the Navy in May of that year, that had been rather difficult since he lived in the US and Francesca lived in Italy.

During their tour of the ballparks and sight seeing around the cities the parks were in, Francesca had remained on the look out for an appropriate woman from her father. She maintained that he needed female companionship in his life, other than herself.

At first, he had given her skeptical looks, as she persisted, the looks became rueful, but when she actually started trying to 'chat up' potential companions for him, he vocally protested.

Francesca just smiled at him and promised to behave. But, it seemed that her definition of 'behaving' was to strike up the conversation with a woman out of his sight, usually on a trip to the ladies room or at the concession stand, and then bringing her along when she returned to where he was sitting at the time. When that happened three times during one two hour game, AJ finally and firmly put his foot down. He told her quite clearly that if she didn't stop, he was going to cut their trip short and return home.

"I just want you to be happy, Papa!" Francesca protested.

"I am happy spending time with you," he answered.

"But you won't always be with me, Papa! You will return home to that empty house, having only that dog with the silly name for company."

Without thinking about the consequences of his statement before uttering it, he admitted, "I might not even have Dammit when I get home. A family down the road from me has been taking care of her. They have two young children that have become very fond of Dammit and I don't know if I have the heart to take her from them."

"Then you will truly be alone!" Francesca exclaimed.

Cursing under his breath that he had given her that information, AJ finally told her the truth. "Listen, Francesca, I tried for a relationship without love, one that was for companionship and you know how that ended." His daughter was the only one he had told about finding Meredith with her Professor.

"So why not find someone you can love? You need to find someone that you can give your heart to!" she insisted, displaying the stubbornness she had gotten from both of her parents.

"I have already given my heart, Francesca, but the circumstances make anything coming of it impossible."

Light dawned in her eyes and she covered her father's hand with hers. "It's that lovely Marine you worked with isn't it? Sarah McSomething…" Seeing the look of protest on his face, she rushed on, "Don't bother to deny it, Papa! It's as clear as day! I don't see what the problem is. You are no longer her boss, why don't you tell her how you feel?"

"Because I was her 'boss' until just a few months ago, but the fact that I no longer am does not change the fact that I am too old for her."

"Pft!" she snorted. "Age does not matter to the heart!"

"Francesca, Sarah is only a few years older than you!"

"So? You are worried that I would be jealous of a stepmoma so close to my own age? Papa, the only concern I have is if she makes you happy, and I am somehow sure that Sarah would!"

"Francesca, no one said anything about a stepmother! Nothing is going to happen between Sarah and I, so you have a choice to make. Either drop this subject now, or I will return home once the Series is over instead of going back to Italy with you."

She considered the options for a moment and then agreed to drop the subject. She figured that once he was in Italy he wouldn't be so quick to leave over a little talk, and the topic could be reopened without that threat.

With her promise made, AJ relaxed and enjoyed the Series, as well as looked forward to spending the holidays in Italy with his daughter.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Admiral Chegwidden had retired as JAG six months ago and General Creswell had only been in the position for a short time. Chloe Madison didn't know if one or both of those things, or something else all together, had her 'big sister' Colonel Sarah Mackenzie so depressed lately or not, but she did know that she was going to get to the bottom of it!

She had a four day weekend off of school because of Thanksgiving and after convincing her grandparents of Mac's need to see her, she called her big sister to tell her she was coming for a visit.

"Chloe! What a surprise!" Mac said when the young girl delivered the news via a phone call.

"I know! Isn't it just great? I'll come down on the train on Wednesday night and if you can't pick me up, I'll grab a cab from the station."

"Of course I'll pick you up, but are you sure you want to be here with me instead of your grandparents? I don't have anything special planned…"

"I'm with them all the time! I want to spend time with you, even if we only have turkey TV dinners!"

"Well, I think I can do a little better than that!" Mac protested.

"Really, I don't care, as long as we can spend some time together! I really miss you Mac!"

"And I miss you too, kiddo! I will see you at the station Wednesday night. What time do you get in?"

They made the arrangements, talked for a few more minutes, and then ended the call. Both of them were looking forward to seeing each other in just a few days.

At work the next day, Mac didn't mention the call from Chloe to Harm because he was still hurting over Mattie's recent move back in with her father.

She was so glad that the four day break was only two days away. Tensions at the office made her days almost unbearable. Between avoiding General Creswell as much as possible, because of the Okinawa incident, Harm moping about Mattie, and the strained atmosphere between Sturgis and him, left over from when Sturgis was acting JAG, it was certainly not a pleasure to be there. Added to all that, Mac missed seeing Admiral Chegwidden and Harriet every day. With those two gone JAG no longer felt like a family, it was now just a work place and not even a friendly one any more.

Mac stopped at the market on her way home from work to pick up the makings for Thanksgiving dinner. Looking in horror at the size of the whole frozen turkeys, she instead purchased two Cornish game hens. The store even had some that were already stuffed! She put a ready-made cherry pie in her cart and dithered over getting a can of the jellied cranberry sauce. She hated the stuff, but didn't know how Chloe felt about it. In the end she got it because the story had them on special for thirty nine cents and even if she ended up throwing it away, she hadn't wasted much money. Then there was the question of rolls, the last time she had tried to make one of those tubes of crescent rolls, she had burnt them to a crisp, so instead, with a resigned sigh, she chose a pre made package that she would only have to warm up. A tub of cool whip for the pie and she was done with her shopping.

So, now she was as ready for Thanksgiving as she could be, but honestly, Mac felt that she had very little to be thankful for this year.

To be continued…..


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Wednesday nigh Mac picked Chloe up from the train station. She was truly glad to see her little sister and for a while the heaviness around her heart lifted just a bit. Unfortunately it had become so much a part of her life that it was hard to keep it from showing itself. Although she tried her hardest to keep Chloe from seeing it, the teen wasn't fooled.

Chloe tried to cheer Mac up. She did everything she could think of, from telling jokes to even pulling a couple of innocent pranks on Mac. Nothing worked for long. Chloe got a smile or chuckle out of her sister for her efforts, but soon Mac was back to her stoic self.

By the time they sat down to the dinner they had both worked so hard to prepare on Thursday night Chloe was demanding to know what was wrong. Mac, however, remained firm in her assertion that there wasn't anything wrong. Chloe didn't believe it for one minute. She was determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.

More demands by Chloe on Friday for the truth from Mac was clearly only making her big sis miffed with her. She laid awake that night trying to come up with a plan to discover Mac's sad secret. Finally just before dawn it occurred to her that Mac might not even know what it was that had her so down!

Chloe struck on a brilliant plan that finally allowed her worried mind to quiet down and let her get some sleep. However, because it had been so late, or rather, so early, when she fell asleep, she didn't wake until just after noon. Half of the day was gone!

The two of them ate left-over's again and watched old movies on TV as Chloe tried, as subtlety as a teen-ager could, to put her plan into action. She figured that if she could just get Mac to reveal her most heartfelt wish it would lead to knowing what was making her so sad.

Unfortunately, Mac wasn't really any more forthcoming about her inner most wishes than she had been about what was troubling her. When asked if she could have anything at all that she could wish for, Mac would reply with things like what movie she wanted to watch next, or that she'd like a big bowl of popcorn with extra butter.

Chloe was becoming very frustrated by the end of the night because she was no closer to what she wanted to know than she had been on Wednesday when she arrived.

More pushing on Sunday only made both of them angry. But, Chloe wanted to help Mac so badly that she hated to give up without getting to the bottom of the problem. Finally just before they were to leave for the train station, Chloe blurted out, "Listen, Mac, if you will just answer one question, I promise to drop the subject for good!"

Mac had become so fed up with Chloe's persistence that she just wanted to put an end to it all. If she could get her little sister to stop pestering her by answering one question she would do it. "Fine! What question?" she snapped.

"If you found out you were dying and could have only one last wish granted, what would it be?" Chloe demanded.

Without thinking, Mac answered, "My dying wish would be to have AJ kiss me!"

To be continued…..


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chloe stood there a moment, shocked down to her toes. Then she suddenly burst into speech, "You're going to have to explain that one, Mac! All this time, I thought you were hiding the hots for a certain blue-eyed flyboy!"

Mac sighed, "It was easier to let everyone think that rather than to have to deal with the mess the truth would put me in."

"But the Admiral? Don't get me wrong, he's cute and all for his age, and if I remember right, I thought the two of you would be great together when I first met him, but you never gave any indication at all that you felt the same way! In fact, I seem to remember you scolding me for mentioning that you should date him!"

"I know," Mac admitted. "But at that point you were still a little blabber mouth and if I had let you know you had hit the nail on the head, I could've been pretty sure you would have found a way to let him know that!"

"Well, yeah! Look at all the years I could have saved you if I had!" Rubbing her hands enthusiastically together, she eagerly asked, "Okay, so what do we do now to get the two of you together?"

"Nothing!" Mac stated firmly.

"But Mac! We have to!" Chloe protested.

"No!" Mac insisted.

"But…"

"Chloe Madison, you have to promise me that you are not going to tell him!"

"Mac!" Chloe whaled.

"No! Chloe, I mean it! You have to swear to me that you aren't going to try and contact him in any way!"

"But Mac!"

"You are not going to try and call him! Promise me!"

Very reluctantly Chloe agreed. "Alright!" 'There was always other ways,' she thought.

"Or email him!"

'Rats!' she mentally exclaimed. "Okay," she said out loud, frantically thinking of other ways.

"Or text him, or leave a message on his answering machine!" Mac added to the list.

With a defeated sigh Chloe conceded to Mac's demands.

They had to hurry to the station after that or Chloe would miss her train home. It was in the car on the way that Chloe realized Mac hadn't mentioned 'snail mail'! She could use the good old Post Office to send word to Admiral Chegwidden about Mac's wish.

As she hugged Chloe good-bye, Mac promised that she would work on being happier. Chloe decided to give her a couple of weeks to see if Mac was good to her word. If she didn't see improvement Chloe would write the letter to AJ.

A little over two weeks went by and although Mac tried to be more cheerful in her emails and phone calls Chloe could sense that nothing would work except to change the underlying problem. The only thing that would make Mac happy was to have the Admiral in her life. So she sat down and wrote a very carefully worded letter to him.

During the tour of the ballparks AJ had his mail held at the local post office in McLean. Since Bud Roberts had taught him how to pay his bills on line, he knew he had them taken care of. What he did for the rest of his mail was have it forwarded to him whenever he and Francesca would be staying in the same city for a few days.

After arriving in Italy, he had forgotten all about that until a week and a half before Christmas. Francesca complained that she was already getting Christmas cards in the mail, but that she hadn't even bought the ones she wanted to send yet. This reminded AJ to call about his mail. Five days later a large package arrived with almost two months accumulation of junk mail and letters.

It was Christmas Eve when he finally came across Chloe's letter three quarters of the way though the stack. He opened it wondering what reason Mac's little sister had to write him. As he read, his heart filled with dread and by the time he reached the end, his hands were trembling.

To be continued…..


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chloe wrote:

Dear Admiral AJ,

I know Mac will be very upset with me for writing to you like this, but I felt I had to. I really think you have a right to know.

For the last several months things have been going downhill for her and when I visited her over Thanksgiving she was really depressed. I guess it's not surprising with what's going on, she hasn't told anyone, and she won't let anyone help, not even me!

She insists that nothing can be done and when I begged her to let me contact you, she absolutely refused. When I kept protesting, she listed all the ways I wasn't to try and reach you. I realized that 'snail mail' wasn't on her list, but I'm sure she just either forgot it, or thought a modern kid like me wouldn't think of it. Either way, I'm sure she wouldn't be happy if she knew I was writing this to you.

But I should get to the reason that I am writing to you. When I was leaving, I asked her if she could have one last thing, what would her most heartfelt wish be? Her exact words were, "My dying wish would be to have AJ kiss me!"

I don't know what your feelings are for her, but I know from everything Mac has told me about you that you are a kind and compassionate guy. I hope that you care enough to grant her wish. I only hope that it's not already too late…

Chloe

The letter fluttered to the floor as it fell from his suddenly lifeless fingers. As AJ realized what Chloe's words implied, his heart clenched. The woman he'd been in love with since the moment he'd first met her was dying!

"Papa, what is it?" Francesca asked when she saw the reaction to what her father had just been reading.

AJ was too shocked to answer his daughter, so when he didn't reply, she picked up the paper from the floor and read it.

"Oh Papa! I am so sorry!" she exclaimed when she finished. Placing the letter on the table, she put her hand on AJ's shoulder and asked, "What are you going to do?"

That question finally seemed to snap him out of it and he replied, "I have to go to her!"

"But Papa, the letter mentions Thanksgiving and tomorrow is Christmas. How can you be sure she is even still…"

"Don't!" he warned. "She has to be alive!"

"Certainly there is someone you could call to find out," Francesca suggested.

"Chloe said no one knows, and that she wasn't letting anyone help her."

"They would surely know if she was alive or dead!" she protested.

"Yes, they would know that, and if…the worst had happened surely someone would have contacted me! I have to get to the airport and get the first flight back."

"I know you want to believe that she is still alive Papa, but if this letter took this long to get to you…Please at least call someone and find out if you need to make the trip, before you try and fly all the way home on Christmas Eve!"

He thought for a moment and then nodded. "I'll call Bud Roberts, he would know if…one way or the other," AJ said slowly, reaching for his cell phone.

When Bud came on the line AJ apologized for calling him on a holiday and taking him away from his family. Bud protested that there was never a need to apologize for calling and that he was always glad to hear from friends on the holidays.

AJ silently prayed that Bud's happy voice meant that nothing drastic had happened to Sarah yet. But his next thought was that if Bud didn't know about her health, he was going be ruining Bud's good mood.

"Bud, I hate to do this on Christmas, or at anytime for that matter, but I was calling to find out how Sarah…Colonel Mackenzie is?"

"The Colonel, Sir? I don't know about today, I haven't seen her since yesterday at work."

"Thank God," AJ muttered partially under his breath. "How did she seem yesterday, Bud?"

"The same as ever. She might have been a bit on the pale side, but half the office has had this flu that's been going around. Why do you ask, Sir?"

"Bud, it's more than just the flu in her case! I just got a letter from her little sister, Chloe…"

"Oh! I remember her, Sir!" Bud interrupted. "How nice that she sent you a Christmas card! Harriet and I would have too if we had known when you were going to be…"

"BUD!" AJ stopped him.

"Yes, Sir?" You could almost hear the younger man come to attention over the phone.

"Chloe said that Sarah was dying and that she didn't know how much time she had left!"

"Dying, Sir?" It seemed all Bud could do was parrot the shocking words.

"So you didn't know?" AJ questioned, as he heard Harriet's voice in the background asking, 'Whose dying?'

To be continued…..


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Not now, sweetie," Bud said and then stammered into the phone, "Ummm, Sir, I wasn't calling you 'sweetie', I was talking to Harriet."

"I know, Bud. Can you do me a favor, and find out what is going on with Sarah? I'm in Italy and am going to catch the first flight back that I can find."

"On Christmas Eve, Sir? Everything will be booked solid!" Bud exclaimed.

"I'll find something, Bud. Do you think you can locate her? Since she doesn't want anyone to know about this, I don't want her upset that I'm coming back from Italy because I found out."

"You can count on me, Sir! Will I be able to reach you on your cell phone?"

"Yes, and thanks, Bud."

"Don't mention it, Sir, and you can be sure Harriet and I will be there for her too!"

"I know that Bud, but for now can you keep this as quiet as possible until we know more?"

"Yes, Sir," Bud promised and hung up. He quickly answered Harriet's questions, sending her into tears. He tried to calm her, but she was beyond anything his words could do. As she ran up the stairs to their bedroom, Bud was glad that his brother, Mike, and his dad were there to keep an eye on the kids while he did what he could for the Admiral.

He first placed a call to Colonel Mackenzie, figuring he could be subtle enough to try and find out her current condition, as long as he could keep her from knowing that he was crying. There was no answer at Mac's apartment or on her cell and he couldn't get the information he wanted without talking to her directly so he didn't leave a message. His next call was to Commander Rabb, if anyone had information on her, Bud figured it would be Harm; he was her best friend after all.

Harm answered with a rather hushed, 'Hello,' and Bud got right to the point of his call.

"Commander, I'm trying to reach Colonel Mackenzie, but she doesn't answer either of her phones. Would you happen to know where she is, Sir?"

Quietly, Harm replied, "I'm with her now, Bud. She's in the hospital…"

"Oh no! How is she, Sir?" Bud interrupted.

Looking at Mac's bruised face that she had gotten when the airbag hit her after her car crashed into the tree, he told Bud, "Well, she's not looking so good…"

This time all Bud could do was hang up. The lump in his throat was too big to get words by. Before he could give into his own emotions however, he needed to call the Admiral with the news.

The call from Bud came as Francesca was driving him to the airport. AJ's lips stiffened and his posture went rigid. As he thanked Bud and clicked his cell phone shut, Francesca knew the news was bad.

"I'm sorry, Papa," she whispered, taking one hand off the wheel and reaching across the car to lay it over his clenched hands.

"Thank you, Francesca," he replied, and then after taking a deep steadying breath he went on to say, "I just want you to drop me at the door and go home. There's no reason for you to have to hang around with me."

"The reason would be to give you some company, Papa," she protested.

"Francesca, I assure you, I won't be very good company."

"That doesn't matter; I can be there for you!"

"Thank you, Darlin', but in all honesty I would like to be alone."

They had reached the airport by this time and with a resigned sigh, because she knew that tone in her father's voice, she said, "If you're sure, Papa."

"I am. But, I'm also sorry that I spoiled Christmas for you."

"Don't be silly, Papa! I can always spend the day with Mama. It is you and your Sarah I am concerned for."

He might have said more, but there were cars behind them also waiting to drop off passengers who were beeping their horns in frustration at the delay. AJ brushed a kiss on Francesca's cheek and got out of the car promising, "I'll call you when I know more."

She nodded sadly and pulled away from the curb.

To be continued…..


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Bud and Francesca had been right. The airport was a crowded madhouse of people still trying to reach their destinations before Christmas Day. All the flights were over booked and there were already people on standby for each one.

AJ tried talking to some of the passengers that looked like they were traveling alone into letting him buy their seat on any flight going anywhere near Washington DC without any luck. By the time he had asked four different people his desperation must have caused some alarm by the expressions they gave him, so he figured he'd better try and calm down before someone called security. The last thing he needed was to be held up with that when he wanted to be on hand for any flight that opened up.

The ticket agent knew his name and had been given a brief explanation of why he needed to get home so badly, but it was still early the next morning before he heard his name called. The attendant explained that most everyone was at their destination by now and there was finally a seat open. AJ gladly paid for it, even though it was in first class at the much higher, last minute holiday rate. He didn't really care what it cost as long as it got him home to Sarah in time!

The four hour flight seemed to last twice as long as that to AJ. The cheerful flight attendant had all twelve seats in her first class section full. Five of the twelve had quickly fell asleep right after takeoff, one of those being the middle aged man in the seat next to AJ. Even with fewer than usual passengers to care for she quickly learned to avoid the grim man in the back row. She had offered him breakfast, as well as a complimentary glass of mimosa, a champagne and orange juice combination, but had been tersely refused both times. As she was about to ask him if there was anything else she could get for him, AJ turned to pointedly stare out of the window next to him. She didn't approach him again for the rest of the flight.

He was in the aisle with his one carry on bag before the plane came to a complete stop at the terminal. Normally, the flight attendant would have sent him back to his seat, but this grim man with the military bearing managed to communicate to her without words that it would have done her no good to try.

Since he was to be gone for such an extended length of time, AJ hadn't wanted to leave his Escalade in the long term parking at the airport. So, when he quickly exited the airport, he hailed a cab and told the driver to take him directly to the hospital.

Figuring that his passenger looked healthy enough that it wasn't a medical emergency, the driver started the car and tried to make his usual small talk. He had found over the years that the more you connected with the passenger in the back of your vehicle, the bigger the tip you were likely to get. This time, however, he quickly understood that the man in the back didn't want to talk at all. Whoever he was going to see in the hospital must have been in a bad way!

As the cab made its way through the nearly empty streets on that Christmas morning, AJ called Bud to let him know that he had gotten into town.

Big Bud was the one that picked up the phone at the Roberts' house, saying that Bud and Mike were supervising the kids opening their presents, while Harriet was busy nursing the twins. He said he would be glad to relay AJ's message as well as his promise to call again when he could give them an update on Colonel Mackenzie's condition.

AJ would also wait until later to call Francesca as well so he could give her the same information.

Arriving at the hospital the nurse behind the desk on Sarah's floor told him that Mr. Rabb had left around 11:30 last night and that Ms. Mackenzie hadn't had any other visitors after he'd left. She wouldn't give AJ any information on Sarah's condition because he wasn't family, however, she told him Sarah could have visitors and he was given her private room number.

He cautiously entered her room just before lunch time to find her dozing.

To be continued…..


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

AJ stood there a minute just staring at her, ever so grateful that he'd arrived in time; but still with so many unanswered questions on his mind. He didn't know what was ending her life so prematurely, but she looked peaceful at the moment. Sarah wasn't hooked up to a myriad of machines. He was surprised to see that there wasn't even an IV. She didn't appear to be in pain, she in fact looked perfectly normal except for a slight redness in her face. Maybe it was a sign of fever?

Quietly crossing the room, he lightly touched her forehead. She didn't feel warm at all to his touch, but even that light pressure had stirred her from slumber.

Her eyes fluttered open and at first Mac thought she might still be dreaming. She couldn't remember the number of times she had imagined AJ looking at her with the love that she saw in his face now. But as her eyes focused more, she became aware of the sterile hospital room they were in and she knew she had to be awake. Never, even in her oddest dreams, had they taken place in a hospital room.

"Admiral? What are you doing here?" she croaked. Her throat was dry and still husky from sleep.

'She sounded so weak!' he thought as he gently pressed a finger to her lips. "Shhhh, don't try and talk. All that matters is that I got here."

Shocked at the intimacy of his touch, she still managed to ask past his silencing finger, "How did you know?"

"Chloe told me," he replied.

"How?"

"She sent me a letter."

"Letter? But I have only been here since last night!" she protested.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is, I'm here," AJ assured her.

"I'm glad to see you, but I don't understand why you came."

"She told me about what you told her at Thanksgiving."

"What I said?" Mac was even more confused now, and was still trying to piece together how Chloe could have sent him a letter about her being in the hospital when it had just happened last night. The fact that this letter had somehow gotten AJ to come back to Virginia from where ever his baseball tour had taken him most recently really baffled her.

"Your wish…" he trailed off, not sure how to admit what he knew to be her innermost desire.

As realization of what he was talking about hit her, Mac muttered, "Oh no!" She was torn between her desire to kill her little sister and her wish that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Since Chloe wasn't there, and the ground didn't seem willing to cooperate, she chose flight as her next best option. Unfortunately, she was still stiff and sore from the car accident that had put her there. All she could manage to do was turn her head away as she tried to struggle free of the covers.

"Sarah, please stop," AJ requested as he placed a hand on her shoulder to hold her back from getting out of the bed. "I'm glad that Chloe did write to me! I would have been devastated to return home only to find out I was too late to have an opportunity to see you."

"Too late?" she groaned as it flashed through her mind that not only had her little sister told him she wanted him to kiss her, but that she must have added it was because she was dying! Then to add fuel to the fire, he had got here to find her in the hospital, which could have only added to the misunderstanding. She had to clear up this mess fast and then have General Creswell transfer her to a far corner of the world! She would need just enough time before leaving town to kill Chloe!

Lying back against her pillow, Mac reluctantly looked up into his face, ready to tell him the letter had been a big mistake, and the fact that she was dying was an outright lie.

Instead he began to speak, "Sarah, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Chloe did us both a great service; well I feel that way at least. By doing what she did it allowed me to grant your wish, but also to fulfill a desire that I had kept hidden from you for all these years. I am glad that she wrote to me, and if I get a chance I will tell her that. In the mean time, I don't know how many chances we will have to fulfill your wish, but I am hoping that there will be many more than just this one." He leaned over and gently placed his lips on hers.

To be continued…..


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

'He was kissing her!' Mac thought, even though she could hardly believe what was happening. She had wanted this for so long! Even before that 'almost kiss' in his bedroom all those years ago, she had dreamed of him kissing her. But this! This was not how she had imagined it happening. Not in a hospital room, but rather after some wonderful declaration of their mutual love for each other. This kiss was happening under false pretenses and she should stop it. But it was so tender, so sweet, so wonderful, that she didn't want it to end. Even as she thought that she really had to end it and tell him the truth of what brought him here, the decision was taken from her.

He ended the kiss and straightened up, saying, "There now, one wish granted. Here's hoping that there will be time for many more."

"There won't be!" she cried sadly.

"Well then, as many as we do have time for," he told her with a gentle smile.

Unable to stand his kindness and pity in the face of what she knew was really going on, she just blurted out, "AJ, I'm _not_ dying!"

"That's the spirit, Sarah! A positive attitude is always the key in these matters. We will fight this as hard as we can. We'll be in it together," he promised.

"No! We won't! You don't understand…"

He interrupted her, "Sarah, I _do_ understand, and I want to be here with you, by your side all the way."

"You won't when you hear what I have to say! It was a lie! Chloe got you here under false pretenses!"

"Oh," he uttered quietly, taking a step away from the bed as he read the truth in her eyes. "I see. I'm sorry that I presumed in that way then, Sarah. I would never have kissed you if I had known you didn't want me to! You definitely have enough on your plate without the stress of my unwanted advances."

"No! The 'kiss' part wasn't a lie! The 'dying' part was!" she protested.

It took him only a moment to process this; his shoulders no longer slumped and he stood up straighter. His eyes gleamed brightly as he exclaimed, "You're not dying! Sarah, that's incredible! What ever would have made Chloe think that you were? And how could she have made a mistake like that?"

A bit exasperated at his assumption of good in the devious teen, Mac wondered for just a moment if he had been spending too much time with Bud Roberts. It seemed the young idealist was rubbing off on AJ, with a sigh Mac informed him, "Chloe didn't make a mistake. She outright lied!"

"Why in the world would she do that?" he wanted to know.

"She was trying to get us together," she muttered in response.

AJ seemed stunned, however he still managed to ask, "But why would she have lied to do so?"

"She wanted to make me happy," came her reluctant answer.

"By making me think you were dying?" he demanded incredulously. "Did she think that would give you a good laugh?"

Mac knew that nothing short of the whole story would be enough to explain how this horrendous situation had come about would do at this point. "You might want to sit down for this," she suggested, indicating the chair in the corner of the room.

When he had pulled it away from the wall and a little closer to the bed she realized that he wasn't going to come as close as she would have liked. Last night, Harm had pulled the chair closer than AJ did.

He turned his gaze on her once he was settled in the chair and waited for her to continue talking. Taking a deep breath Mac began, "I haven't been happy for a while, and even though Chloe and I don't get to see each other much since she moved in with her grandparents we do talk on the phone and email each other. I guess it became bad enough that even though she is only sixteen, Chloe started to notice…" she saw him fold his arms across his chest and knew that she had been rambling. After all the years she had worked for him, Mac knew that was his way of informing her that she should 'get to the point'!

"With you and Harriet gone from the office we seemed to loose that 'family' feel. I had no problem with the SECNAV appointing Sturgis to be in charge, but Harm clearly didn't feel the same. The tension between those two put everyone in the office on edge. Then there was the ongoing speculation over who would be put in your position. It was almost a relief when General Creswell was finally appointed. Well, to everyone but me I guess…"

To be continued…..


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

At AJ's inquiring tilt of his head, she slowly continued, "He was the one that saw to it that the letter of reprimand got into John Farrow's permanent file, but I didn't know if he was aware that I had been the one involved with John. At first he didn't say one way or the other if he did. I was walking around on eggshells for days and avoiding him as much as possible. Then he let a few things drop that suggested he did know…" she paused for a long breath because she knew that she had been rambling, trying to avoid getting to what he really wanted and had a right to know. "We finally got it all resolved after Thanksgiving, but it had made for very miserable working conditions before it got cleared up and a lot of that was what Chloe was picking up on when she came for her visit."

"That still doesn't explain about the kiss or the dying story, Sarah."

"No, it doesn't. Believe me I am going to get to that, it's just that it's so embarrassing…" With a gulp she went on, "Chloe was bugging me all that weekend to tell her what was bothering me, and no one can bug you better than a determined teenager! Honestly, I didn't know if it was because I didn't want to answer her, or couldn't. I didn't want to spoil our time together griping about how things were going at the office and as for the rest, well I don't think I had really analyzed the underlying cause of my unhappiness. But she just kept on and on and ON, until finally, just before I was going to take her to the train station on Sunday night she came up with this 'dying wish' question. I found myself blurting out the first thing that came into my head, just to get her to stop!"

"I see. So this was all just something you made up to get Chloe to stop pestering you?" he asked solemnly.

"No!" she exclaimed, and then in the same instant realized that she could have brushed this all under the rug if she had only agreed. But now that the cat was out of the bag, there was no way to take it back, and ultimately she was a person that valued the truth. Plus, he had come all this way to fulfill what he had thought was her last wish, so he did deserve the truth.

"The dying part was all something Chloe made up and you can be sure that I will find a way to make her pay for it. I know it must look like I was somehow involved in it too because here I am in this hospital, but it was just a really weird coincidence. Yesterday I was just out driving and wasn't paying attention as I should have been. I looked down to change the station on the radio. When I looked up again, I missed the curve and ran into a tree. I'm okay though! But I passed out, so they want to keep me for twenty four hours for observation."

"And the kiss?" he prompted gently.

"It was wonderful…oh, that's not what you meant, was it?" She hung her head for a moment, missing his grin, before starting to speak again, "I meant what I said to her about the kiss. One of the biggest regrets in my life was that you stopped before you kissed me that night at your party. It left me wondering all these years what it would have been like."

"So it was simply curiosity?"

"No. I might as well tell you all of it since I've come this far. I was attracted to you from the start, but after what had happened with John I tried to convince myself that maybe I had a thing for authority figures. My father wasn't the best one in the world, as you know. But I never saw John or you as a father figure. Please believe that if nothing else! Anyway, I brought that seal pup picture I have in my office to remind me that you were off limits and I tried to get involved with someone else. There was Dalton, Brumby, and Clay. Although I came close to marriage with Mic, I just couldn't take that final step. The problem was that none of them were you. You were the only one I could picture myself with for the long term…" she finally fell silent after almost whispering the last comment.

"Sarah, there have been enough misunderstandings over this and I just want to make sure I don't have my signals crossed. Are you saying that you…have feelings for me?"

With her gaze lowered so she didn't have to witness the pity in his eyes, she said, "If you mean by 'have feelings for you', am I totally, hopelessly, irrevocably in love with you, then yes, I am."

To be continued…..


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Sarah, the only thing that could have made your declaration more perfect was if you had been looking at me when you said it." Mac jerked her head up, meeting his eyes in shock as he continued with a tender smile, "But, as it was, I would still have to say that it was the best Christmas present I have ever gotten."

"Since you've been so honest with me about your feelings, it only seems fair that I do the same with you. I was also attracted to you from the first, but for me that was even before we met that day in the Rose Garden. I had been given your personnel file earlier in the week when I received word that you would be joining the staff. You had an impressive record, but it was your photo that I found myself staring at, not your fit reps. When we did meet face to face, I knew working with you was going to be difficult if I couldn't get my feelings under control. The next day when you were standing there in front of my desk, I allowed you to believe that I was finishing up some paperwork, when in reality I was really checking you out."

"I had no idea!" she gasped.

"You were never meant to," he told her. "There were several times over the years where I almost slipped. That night in my bedroom was one of them. You'll never know how many times I rehearsed that hated speech that I gave you the next day in my office. Then you made your very sweet offer when Francesca had been kidnapped. I wanted so badly to take you up on it, but I knew it would only lead to trouble for both of us. Every time I found you alone in the close confines of the break room I had to restrain myself from taking you in my arms. The closest I came to breaking my promise to myself not to do that, was when you kissed me after we rescued Josh Pendry. I wanted more than anything to pull you back into my arms and declare how I felt about you then. But once again I resisted."

"Why?" she managed to interrupt.

"Because I knew that it would be a disaster to one or both of our careers. I really had no idea, or even hope, that you might be thinking along the same lines. Sarah, once those words were spoken there would have been no way of taking them back."

"And now that one of us has?" she inquired with worry.

"I am getting to that, I promise you, but there is more you need to know first," he assured her.

"Times that we socialized outside of work were particularly difficult as well. Without the barriers of our uniforms to keep that focused in my mind, the temptation to forget it completely was so great."

"I wish you had!"

AJ looked at her and smiled slowly, "Hindsight is a wonderful thing and maybe we could have found a way without destroying or damaging our careers, but we were both too good at hiding things from the other. I guess in my mind you were always waiting for Harm to grow up. I saw how deeply you were affected when his plane went down. You even called off your wedding."

With a rueful smile she admitted, "Actually it was Mic that called it off. He believed that I loved Harm too, but in reality Harm and I were never more than friends. It was you that was in my heart. The real reason I jumped at the chance to postpone the wedding was because I couldn't get the feeling of being in your arms out of my head."

At his inquiring look she said, "I couldn't stop thinking about our dance at the engagement party. About how your arms felt around me, how you smiled at me…" she closed her eyes and gave a happy little sigh at the memory.

"That smile cost me a lot. I felt like I was empty inside. Not only were you getting married, but you had asked me to walk you down the aisle!"

To be continued…..


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I will admit that was a sad mistake. I just felt that it would be the only way I'd ever be able to walk down an aisle with you. I had some twisted idea of pretending just for that brief time that we were coming back down the aisle after being married ourselves. I knew how wrong it was the moment after the request left my mouth. For just an instant I got the feeling that you were going to refuse, but then you agreed and I was stuck."

"I had thought about turning down your request, but there were two reasons why I didn't. The first was because you wanted me to. I thought that it was something that I could do for you. The second reason was a more personal one. I hoped that if I even symbolically was giving you away to another man, that it might sublimate my desire to have you for my self."

He paused to take a breath before going on, "The night of the engagement party was agony for me. I was glad that you were happy, but not happy that it was because you were marrying someone else. When we danced together it felt so right! I felt like you belonged in my arms, the temptation to beg you to call off the wedding was so strong that it was almost impossible to control. Then at the rehearsal dinner when Harm's plane went down I wondered if it was in someway Karma for my wish, but then I remembered his flying history…no matter the reason, the wedding was postponed and then Brumby left! Even though I knew I had no right to hope, my heart wouldn't listen to reason."

"Why didn't you say something then!" she asked.

She couldn't quite tell if he snorted or gave a short bark of laughter, but his answer stunned her, "I had been thinking about retiring after having a talk with you to see if you had any interest in me at all, but before I could do that, you introduced me to Meredith. I took that as a sign there was no hope at all. My mind told me that you wouldn't introduce me to someone else if you wanted me for yourself."

"That was a mistake! I never meant to 'introduce' you to her!" Mac exclaimed, making air quotes with her fingers. "She had just come by to have lunch with me and the introduction happened by accident."

"I know that now, but it was also about that time you started dating Webb, that made me think about retirement even more. Having Meredith in my life helped some, but I was never truly in love with her. It was more just companionship. That was probably why I allowed myself to neglect her the way I did. Once the engagement ended and that additional buffer between us was gone, I had to get away. It was killing me to see you everyday and not have you truly in my life, so I retired."

"All that was very illuminating, AJ, but you still haven't come right out and said anything more than that you were attracted to me."

"No you don't, Sarah. Even my daughter knew as soon as I got Chloe's letter that I had to get back to you."

"That still doesn't answer my question! You don't do all the things you did for just attraction…" she trailed off hoping he would express his true feelings.

He smiled gently at her prompting and finally gave her the answer she wanted so badly to hear, "I know, and I wasn't really trying to drag this out, I guess that I have kept this secret for so long that it is just a bit hard to say out loud now after all this time. I love you, Sarah Mackenzie! You are the breath in my lungs, the beat of my heart, my reason for living!"

To be continued…..


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

AJ watched as Sarah's eyes filled with tears and for just a moment he wondered if his declaration had come too late, but then a smile lit her face like it was the Fourth of July rather than Christmas.

"Oh AJ! This IS the best Christmas ever!" she cried.

He got up from the chair and approached her bed, "I know you only had one wish, Sarah, so I am wondering if you would consider me very greedy if I had three?"

With an exaggerated sigh she said, "Well, rank does have its privileges."

"In the interest of getting my wishes granted, I won't remind you that my rank is no longer an issue since I retired."

"Good," she teased. "Then I'll pretend I didn't just hear that. What are your wishes?"

"Well, first, I would like another kiss, now that we both know how we feel."

"Ooooh, I'd like that too!" she assured him.

"Second, I would like us to start dating as soon as we can get you out of here."

"Granted!" she promised.

"And third, I would like us to find a way to make young Ms. Madison pay for all the trouble her letter caused."

Mac was already nodding her approval of his wish even before he could finish it. She gleefully suggested, "To start with, you could call her and thank her…"

"How is that going to make her pay?" he interrupted her to question.

Grinning, Mac told him, "You didn't let me finish. Tell her you are calling from my hospital room and that you got here just in time."

A smile spread across his face as AJ told her "You are a very evil person, Sarah Mackenzie, and that is most certainly one of the reasons I love you! I also wholeheartedly concur that Chloe deserves something that diabolical!"

"How long do you think we should allow her to suffer!" Mac asked with a grin.

"Oh at least until our wedding," he answered cheerfully.

"Wedding? You were just talking about us starting to date when I got out of the hospital!"

"Make no mistake, Sarah, I fully intend to marry you just as soon as you get used to the idea."

With a happy sigh she replied, "Well if that is the case we could leave right from here and head to a Justice of the Peace, because although I never imagined it would ever come true, I have been dreaming about being your wife for years."

"Sarah! Is that true?"

"Yes," she answered simply.

"I do want you to be my wife as soon as possible, but I would like to share our joy with our friends as well as Francesca, if she can make it. Plus it wouldn't be long at all to keep Chloe in suspense if we were to be married tonight. What would you think, if we can get everything arranged in time, about being married in one week on New Year's day?"

"What a wonderful way to start the new year! AJ that's perfect!" she agreed. Then the wicked gleam came back into her eyes, "Now why don't you call Chloe?"

He smiled and agreed that it was time. Pulling out his cell phone he asked what her number was. Mac looked back at him blankly for a moment and then admitted that she didn't have it memorized. "However, I do have it in my auto dialer. Why don't you just make the call with my phone? That way you only need to hit her name on the touch screen," she offered.

Putting his phone away he did as Mac suggested.

When Chloe saw Mac's name on her caller ID she started speaking at once, foregoing the traditional 'hello' in favor of, "Hey Mac! What's up?"

"Chloe, it's not Mac, it's Admiral Chegwidden. I'm using her phone because I didn't know any other way to reach you."

"Oh no! What's going on?" the teen demanded.

"All I can say is thank god your letter got to me in time. I will be forever grateful for that!"

"What do you mean? Where is Mac? Let me talk to her right now!"

"Chloe, she can't talk just now, but I'm here with her in the hospital and…"

To be continued…..


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Oh my God! NO! It was all supposed to be a joke! That letter wasn't real!" Chloe shouted in disbelief.

Mac could hear Chloe's loud protests even though AJ had the phone close to his ear and motioned for him to hand it to her. Once he passed it over, she tried to make her voice as weak and as husky as possible while still trying to keep the amusement at the trick they were playing on her little sister from her voice. "Chloe," she croaked, "I wanted to say thank you too! I don't know how you knew, but you made my wish come true!" She handed the phone back to AJ as she buried her face in the pillow to muffle her laughter.

AJ could hear Chloe's wails of "No! No! No!" before he got the phone to his ear. Looking over at Mac to see that she still had her face hidden, his tender heart took pity on the distraught girl. Glad that Francesca had insisted on teaching him how to 'text' so that they could send messages back and forth to each other while at the ballparks. He typed in as quickly as he could, 'car accident, not dying, she will be fine, all a joke' while saying into the receiver, "Chloe, I need to go now, I'll call again later if there is time." He hung up with her demands for an explanation still ringing in his ear.

Now that he was off the phone, Mac was able to allow her mirth free reign. Her giggles filled the room as she asked AJ between gasps, "Did you hear her? I definitely think we got her good! Do you think letting her be in the wedding will make up for the trick we played?"

"She might forgive you for that, but I'm not sure about me," he told her with a grin at her delight.

"Maybe we shouldn't let her suffer too long. If you called her with the truth once I'm released, she would have to forgive you too. Don't you think?" Mac asked, feeling compassion for the distressed young girl.

"I think that would be a good idea," he told her as the door to her room was pushed open to reveal the sad faces of Bud and Harriet Roberts.

As soon as Harriet saw Mac her tears started to flow, "Oh Ma'am! The Admiral told us the news!" she cried as she hurried across the room to Mac's side.

Mac turned her gaze on AJ with just a touch of accusation in her eyes. He had been the one to worry her friends this way. Even though Chloe had started all of this, AJ was there and clearly had to have been the one that passed on the bad news to Bud and Harriet.

He was just about to begin explaining the mix up when Harm strolled in through the open door. He looked at all the people in the room and then said, "Gee, Mac, you could have let me know you already had others here to escort you out of here tonight!"

Harriet turned her tear filled hostile eyes on Harm and scolded, "That is very inconsiderate, Commander! A person needs all their friends around at a time like this!"

"Huh?" Harm looked very confused. "Why would she need more than one…"

Getting angry with his apparent lack of sympathy for the situation, Harriet told him, "Well, if you can't understand that, then maybe Mac doesn't want you around when she's dying after all!"

"Dying? Whose dying?" Harm demanded.

"I'm not dying!"

"She's not dying!"

Mac and AJ insisted in unison.

"But Sir! You told us over the phone that Colonel Mackenzie was dying!" Bud protested to AJ.

"I know I did and I'm very sorry to have caused all this confusion and sadness. It seems I was misinformed on the subject by a very mischievous teenager."

At the blank looks he got from all but Sarah, he went into more detail, "Chloe sent me a letter saying that Sarah was dying. That was why I told you that and the reason I rushed back from Italy."

All three of them started to speak at once:

"Why would she have done something so mean?" Bud questioned.

"How could she have claimed something so tragic?" Harriet asked.

"Why would that have brought you rushing back from Italy?" Harm wanted to know.

To be continued…..


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Hoping to be able to keep the 'kiss wish' out of it until he and Sarah had more time alone to explore their new found feelings for each other, AJ mentally scrambled for some kind of believable explanation, when Sarah jumped in with an answer. "I had made a remark to her at Thanksgiving that the Roberts' traditional Christmas dinner sure wouldn't be the same without the Admiral there. It seems that Chloe has become somewhat of a drama queen lately and instead of just asking him to come back early, she made up this elaborate story. Believe me both A…the Admiral and I will be getting on her case for this!" Mac assured them.

Harriet was the first to react, "So you're really and truly not going to die?"

"I'm sure that I will someday, Harriet, but I'm really and truly not going to do so in the foreseeable future, certainly not before Christmas dinner at your house!"

"But you're here in the hospital!" Bud protested.

"I had a small car accident yesterday and they only wanted to keep me twenty-four hours for observation. In fact, Harm was to pick me up so we could head to your place. I hope you didn't cancel dinner?"

"Well, there really wasn't time," Harriet admitted. "But other than those of us here we were only having General and Mrs. Creswell and Bud's father and brother. I told Bud to call the General and cancel and Mike and Big Bud are at the house watching the children."

A guilty look spread across Bud's face and everyone knew what he was going to say before he confessed, "Oh Harriet! I'm so sorry! I forgot to call the General!"

"Buddy!" she cried, looking at her watch. "They're probably there or at least on their way to our house by now! It's too late to call them!"

"Well if we aren't calling off the dinner because the Colonel isn't dying, then we could head home and everything would be alright!" Bud offered.

"That's a great idea!" Mac chimed in. "Harm, why don't you go with them? I'm sure the Admiral will give me a ride to the house, besides we still need to come up with an appropriate payback for what Chloe did."

"Sarah, Bud and Harriet weren't planning on me being there, it might be better if…"

"Oh Sir, please!" Harriet jumped, "We wouldn't think of leaving you out now that you are here in town. I always make more than enough food, and since the table isn't even set yet, there is no problem with adding another place setting."

"Thank you, Harriet, I am surprised that you want me there after all this, but would be honored to accept your gracious invitation. I hope my casual attire isn't a problem?"

"Not at all, Sir!" she insisted.

"Well, in the interest of not holding up dinner either, I'll have to wear what I was in before the accident too," Mac tried to ease his worry.

"We don't care as long as you are both there," Bud assured them.

When the two of them were alone, AJ told Mac, "I'll go and make sure that your release paperwork is in order while you get dressed to leave."

"Alright," she agreed with a grin. Mac didn't want the first time she undressed for him to be in this hospital room. However, she was hoping that event might happen later that night after dinner at the Roberts' house.

Mac discovered just how stiff and sore she was as she tried to dress. Her normal four minute pace took nearly double that, luckily she still had several minutes to sit and recover before AJ returned to the room from dealing with her paperwork. He was accompanied back by an aide pushing a wheelchair.

AJ wisely interpreted her gaze and before she could protest at the method of transport, he told her, "Its hospital policy and the faster you comply, the faster we can get out of here." With a grin at her sigh of frustration, he gave her a hand into the chair while the aide held it steady.

The climb into his Escalade felt more like climbing Mount Everest, but Mac tried to hide that fact from AJ. He wasn't fooled.

Once he was in the vehicle he handed her the pain medication prescription he had filled at the on sight pharmacy and a bottle of water. "You should take two of these now if you want to be able to get through this evening," he instructed.

To be continued…..


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

He knew how badly she was feeling when she did as he said without a protest. "Sarah, are you sure that you're up to going tonight?" AJ questioned gently.

"I'm positive, AJ. Besides I want to tell everyone our news tonight if that's alright with you."

"I thought you might want some time to be sure," he offered.

"I'm sure enough to agree to marry you in a week's time, why wouldn't I be sure enough to tell our friends? Unless you're saying that you need some time we really should tell them as quickly as possible since our date is so close."

"Sarah, I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

"Wonderful," she replied with a smile that turned mischievous as she asked, "How do you think everyone will react?"

"Surprise and shock…from everyone but Harriet. I have a feeling that she sees a lot more than anyone gives her credit for. Do you anticipate any problems with General Creswell?"

"I don't see why. You've been retired for months and everyone knows you've been away that whole time. I can't believe that any one that knows you would think we've done anything against regs."

"Why me, Sarah? Why didn't you say 'us'?"

"Because I have some questionable things in my past so if they just went on my reputation…" she trailed off.

"That's nonsense! I'm not as lily white as you're making me out to be you know."

"That's bunk! You are the most honorable and respected man that I know!" she insisted.

"Luckily we are here or I would give you a list of people that don't agree with you, Harm being at the top of it."

They were walking up to the house as Mac answered, "You're wrong about that. Harm does respect and admire you."

AJ knocked on the door, privately thinking that they would just have to disagree on that score.

Once inside, the General was surprised to see AJ, because he had been under the impression AJ was out of town. Creswell and his wife were concerned, worried, and then amused as the story of how he had come to be back unfolded.

By the time they had told the part in the story about Mac's accident and having spent the night in the hospital everyone was already seated at the table. Mrs. Creswell commented that it was a good thing the office was closed until after the New Year to give her time to recover.

Mac looked to AJ and getting his nod of approval answered, "It will also give us time to prepare for the wedding."

"Wedding? Whose getting married?" Dora Creswell asked.

Reaching out to take Sarah's hand in his AJ replied, "Getting Chloe's letter as I did, made me realize that time was too precious to waste. This has truly been a holiday for miracles. I discovered that Sarah and I had feelings for each other, so I asked her to marry me…"

The room filled with exclamations of surprise as well as excited clapping from Harriet.

"That is SO wonderful!" Harriet cheered. "Have you set a date yet?"

Mac and AJ shared a grin knowing the shocked reactions that would be forthcoming as Mac told them, "New Year's Day."

"This year?" the General demanded.

Tongue in cheek, AJ couldn't resist telling him, "No, General, that wouldn't be possible since New Year's Day this year has already come and gone. We are getting married next year."

As several sighs of relief were heard around the table it was Bud that understood first, "But New Year's Day next year is still only a week away!"

Mac was nodding happily as the guests registered that truth with looks of shock.

"But that gives you so little time to prepare!" Harriet protested.

"We don't need much, we have each other and hope that you all as our friends and family can be there," AJ answered.

"The only others that we need there are Chloe and AJ's daughter Francesca," Mac offered and then turned to him and asked, "Do you think she would be able to come?"

"I'm sure she will try her best," he answered. "You do realize that we still need to let Chloe know that you aren't dying."

"What?" gasped everyone at the table, but Mac who giggled.

To be continued…..


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Mac explained the practical joke they had played on Chloe because of the letter she had sent to AJ. When Harriet expressed her sympathy for what the teen must be going through, Mac told her that they had been going to wait until the wedding to tell her the truth, but they had changed their minds after hearing how upset she had been on the phone. Mac said she and AJ had decided they would call Chloe later that night and confess it had been a joke.

Harriet begged that they tell her right away so Chloe wouldn't worry any longer than she already had.

AJ agreed to make the call, using the reason that Sarah could then stay and discuss wedding plans. He excused himself after getting Mac's cell phone and went into the other room.

When Chloe came on the line, her first remark was to demand, "What the heck kind of mean joke was that to pull on me?"

Clearly she'd had enough time to figure out the meaning of his text message. "It seemed appropriate payback for letting me think that the woman I love was dying," AJ told her.

"Hey! How was I to know you loved Mac? But if it worked and got you to come home to her wasn't that a good thing?"

"Possibly," he replied. "But I wasn't just a few States away, Chloe. I was in Italy when your letter reached me."

"Oh gosh! Sorry about that. But hey, if you love her, and she wanted a kiss from you more than anything else in the world, did you guys finally kiss when you got there?"

"We did," he admitted giving as little information as possible, mainly to irritate her.

"So you guys are in love with each other?"

"We are," he said with a grin.

"Woohoo! Then if you love each other you guys should get married!"

"We will," he replied barely able to restrain his laughter.

"Oh, that's awesome! Mac will have to let me be a bridesmaid, I'm way too old to be a flower girl, and too mature to be a junior bridesmaid! I'll need a really fancy dress and new shoes. I better start looking now. It could take weeks or even months to find the perfect dress!"

"That will be too long," he insisted when she finally paused for a breath.

"Too long? Why, have you set the date already?"

"We have," he was back to his two word answers again.

"Wow that was fast work! Okay then, when is the wedding going to be?" she demanded excitedly.

"Next week," he told her, holding the phone away from his ear in anticipation of her reaction.

She didn't disappoint him, the squeal that Chloe let loose would have had his ears ringing for days if he'd been holding the phone properly. Her protests were basically the same as when she heard Mac was dying, or at least they started out that way, "No! No! No! That's not nearly enough time to plan a wedding! My best friend's older sister has been planning her wedding for almost a year now and she's not getting married until this summer!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Chloe," he told her with a chuckle. "But we are getting married next week on New Year's Day. We'd like you to be there if you think you could make it…"

"Of course I can make it! You don't really think you could get married without me, do you? I mean if it wasn't for me you guys might have never gotten together!"

"That, and the fact that we both care for you, are the reasons we want you there. I'll have Sarah call you in a few days with more details, but I should get back to her now."

"Okay, you take care of her, and I'll see you guys soon."

He ended the call and returned to the dining room in time to hear Sarah and Harriet planning a shopping trip for the next day. "Sarah, you might want to put that off for a day or two, you have no idea how sore you're going to be in the morning."

AJ hadn't considered the possible double meaning to his words until Sarah and Harriet exchanged knowing glances and then the latter burst into giggles.

To be continued…..


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Patting his hand, Sarah teased, "I'm a Marine, darling. I think I can handle it, plus the hospital gave me all those lovely pain pills, just in case I can't."

The flush started up his neck, to his ears, until even the top of his head, advertised his embarrassment. However, before he could say anything, General Creswell assured Mac, "Colonel, as a fellow Marine, I have every confidence in your ability to perform under pressure."

After a stunned moment of silence as everyone recovered from the shock of the General coming out with a remark like that, laughter filled the room as Mac gasped out her reply, "I shall endeavor to live up to your expectations, Sir!"

More laughter ensued.

When the meal was over, Harriet shooed them into the living room to sing some carols. She insisted that no one needed to spend time clearing the table because her cleaning crew would take care of it tomorrow. The guests got another laugh when Bud admitted that he and Mike were the cleaning crew she spoke of.

Big Bud assured them HE would be watching the children while this was going on!

Even though everyone had eaten their fill of the fine meal Harriet had provided, they all still managed to sing with gusto. AJ, however, kept a close eye on Sarah and as soon as he noticed her becoming fatigued, he made their excuses. He escorted Sarah out, ignoring her weak protests. Bud got her coat and AJ said their thank you and good-byes.

He wasn't surprised when she fell asleep before they reached the highway. Pulling the Escalade to a gentle stop near his front door, he walked around the vehicle to lift Sarah out.

She made feeble claims about being able to walk, but AJ knew she was lying by how limp she was in his arms. Mac might have been impressed by the strength he displayed getting her into the house, climbing stairs, opening doors, and the like, all while carrying her, but she was truthfully so tired it barely registered.

It wasn't until he turned on the light and placed her on the bed in his guest room that she came around enough to protest. "AJ, I want to be with you tonight! I want to make love with you."

"I want that as well, Sarah, but I don't think that you are up to that tonight. We have waited all this time to be together, we can wait a bit longer until you are feeling better," he told her gently.

Sitting up on the edge of the bed she said, "Alright, I can see your point there. I'm in no condition to take part as actively as I'd like and because of that wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much as I want to. But that still doesn't stop me from wanting to spend the night in your arms. Unless you don't want to, could we just cuddle together?"

"I would love that, Sarah," he responded with an intensity that left her in no doubt of his sincerity.

They walked into his bedroom together and he said, "Sarah, I have no idea what you normally sleep in, but I'm afraid that I don't keep any female sleeping attire here."

With a pleased smile at that information, she told him, "I'm really not one for fancy nighties, and I would normally just say I could sleep in my panties and undershirt, but I've had these on way too long as it is! If you have a spare T-shirt and pair of boxers that I could use, it would be great."

"Of course," he replied, getting the requested items out of his dresser and handing them to her. "Here you are, and the bathroom is through there so you can change."

She thanked him as she took the garments and headed into the other room. While she was gone, AJ stripped off the clothes he had been in for two days as well and put on fresh boxers and a T-shirt too.

He was already in bed with just the nightstand lamp on for light in the room when she emerged. The grin on her face had him smiling in response even before she spoke, "You are mean for giving me this T-shirt," she complained with a giggle, pointing at the front of the shirt that said 'Go Navy'!

Laughing as she crossed the room and climbed into bed, he protested, "It was on the top of the stack!"

"Sure!" she grumbled good-naturedly and then sighed as he drew her into his arms. It felt so good and safe to finally be held by him like this.

AJ whispered into her ear, "As much as what she did shook me to the core, I will always be grateful to Chloe for sending me that letter. I love you, Sarah."

She kissed him tenderly for his sweet words and then said, "I love you too, AJ, and no matter how long I live, my dying wish will always be to have one more kiss from you!"

THE END


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